Hi all, I am starting my mates stairwell next week in his house. It is all artex and I am just going to skim about 8 surfaces in total.
I am going to do a couple at a time, PVA it first? then a decent layer of skim? then a second coat?
also the top wall has a hole crack where my fate fell into it with his fist
I cant board this as the door frame is only 12mm of the wall, I was going to fill it? or should i use a backing browning coat?
any advice would be appreciated.

There are some good posts on here about skimming artex, and a good article here: http://www.ultimatehandyman.co.uk/plast ... _artex.htm

I did an artexed ceiling last week and getting the first coat on was the hardest bit. Two good coats of watered down PVA first, having taken the high spots off the artex first. There is said to be a possible asbestos hazard with artex, so you need to do your research first and take necessary precautions.

When you say a 'hole crack' - how big is the hole? Is it in plasterboard? If so, I would cut out the loose stuff and screw a small piece of timber across the hole, but behind the board, then screw a new bit of plasterboard onto the timber.

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I always blame my tools

it is a hole about a4 size, its in breeze plaster not enough room to overboard it

PVA then fill out with bonding and level.

should i just bond the affected area and skim it or the whole wall then skim? do i have to pva the bond before i skim it once its dry?

If your saying that the affected area is only about A4 in size and the rest of the underlying plaster isn't blown then yes. I would give the bond at least two coats of not so watered down pva otherwise you'll find the skim over the top drys out very quickly. This only if you let the bonding dry of course. If its still damp then you should be able to go straight over the top.

probably going to nip in over the weekend for half an hour and just fill the area with bond and let it try before i get in there monday morning. do i pva before i put the bonding on?

the best way to rmove artex from walls and ceiling is to firstly mix decoraters paste and apply to the artex surface the sit down for 30min have a cuppa then scrape of it flys of the wall like wet wallpaper